Supraconstruction - dentures on implants

Single tooth implant

When a tooth is lost, a gap is created in the front or side teeth. The conventional treatment is a bridge or a removable denture. This therapy requires that two neighbouring teeth are trimmed conically and subsequently a bridge made of gold, stainless steel or titanium closes this gap. The bridge can be veneered with veneering materials such as ceramic in the patient's tooth colour. In this way, however, two healthy teeth are also damaged.

The missing tooth can also be replaced by an artificial tooth root made of titanium or zirconium ceramic, the so-called implant. This implant grows together with the bone within a few months and then allows the attachment of a connecting element ( abutment ) and the fixation of a crown made of the above-mentioned materials. Depending on the material and the technique used ( CAD/CAM - gold / titanium / stainless steel ), the patient will incur different costs. The statutory health insurance provides a fixed allowance for the simple solution. Implants and dentures are often very well subsidised by private health insurances and supplementary insurances. If there is not enough bone substance, a bone augmentation or sinus lift is necessary in many cases. This leads to further costs that are almost always not covered by statutory insurance. The chance of success with implants is about 93%. For smokers and certain pre-existing conditions, these prospects are lower, even with ceramic implants.

Multiple implants for fixed dentures

. When several teeth are lost, almost all patients wish to restore the old situation without removable dentures. This works by using bridges made of the materials and techniques mentioned above. Here, several missing teeth are replaced by implants. Between two implants, so-called pontics are inserted, which replace the patient's own teeth. A veneer of these implant crowns and pontics in tooth-coloured material makes them almost invisible to the surroundings, but is often not subsidised by the health insurance fund in the posterior region. Implants are a luxury, a much more comfortable solution, but as a result they are much more expensive and time-consuming.

Removable dentures on implants

If too many or even all teeth are missing and bone augmentation may not be possible, a denture can also be made that the patient can remove for cleaning. These are called telescopic dentures, attachment dentures or All-on-4™ / All-on-6™ solutions, which are attached to four or six implants per jaw. The same materials as above are also used here. However, plastics for teeth, artificial gums or tooth-coloured veneers are also used. The All-on-4™ technique is based on a computer-assisted treatment concept ( see also Immediately loadable implants / fixed teeth in one day ) and the many years of experience of the implantologist and his team. In some cases, special techniques can prevent bone augmentation. Removable and fixed solutions are possible through special positions and angles of the inserted implants.

A much cheaper solution are mini-implants that hold a removable total prosthesis in place by means of small press studs.

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